


without a noise, without my pride

by weatheredlaw



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 04:54:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13651848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weatheredlaw/pseuds/weatheredlaw
Summary: Kravitz doesn't think his bizarre emotional connection to the sound of a radio DJ's voice should be a good enough reason for dating him.Taako disagrees.





	without a noise, without my pride

**Author's Note:**

> thanks marywhale/marywhal for the glorious edits, and a big shout out to my brain for grabbing onto this idea and refusing to let me live until it was done.

_all my instincts, they return_  
_and the grand facade, so soon will burn_  
_without a noise, without my pride_  
_i reach out from the inside_

 

* * *

 

The radio station hadn’t changed in seven years.

The disc jockeys had come and gone — new voices and new songs, new ways of saying the same old thing — but Kravitz never minded. He held a soft spot for the spoken word, for sound waves that soothed him through long nights in med school, when he’d stayed up until dawn, and well into the day, just to be ready for another exam, and later through the long hours of his residency. His colleagues teased, but there was only one steadfast rule in the coroner’s lab:

Don’t change the station.

The daytime coroner knew this. The swing shift crew knew this. And, most importantly,  _Barry_ knew this. Barry was, admittedly, Kravitz’s only friend, and a reliable man attached to a steady pair of hands that never faltered. Barry did work he wasn’t asked to do, completed tasks that took others twice as long in record time, and enforced the lab’s radio rule when it came to the interns, over whom he exercised what Kravitz believed to be a  _bit_  too much power.

In Kravitz’s first few years, the graveyard shift worked to the tune of a radio old timer. A few tried to fill his shoes once he’d retired, but none really seemed to find a footing until Taako showed up.

Taako changed everything.

Kravitz’s nights were suddenly a mix of jazz and punk, slow rock and eighties glam. The weird part about it was that it  _worked._  Whatever sort of magic Taako possessed made all the songs fit together. You could be listening to Ella Fitzgerald one minute and Rage Against The Machine the next. Kravitz could spot popular tune, and then be confronted with a song he’d  _never_  heard before. And he liked it.

Some nights he’d be working with Barry and Barry would comment on the selection. Other nights, Kravitz was alone, and as much as he liked Barry — those nights he spent in the lab, with just Taako’s voice for company were like valleys of peace. Every song, even the ones he didn’t know, felt like they were  _chosen_ , just for him. He’d settle in, allowing himself to turn the volume up, just for the night.

 

* * *

 

“You know what I’ve always wondered?” Barry said, adjusting his goggles. He paused and turned to an intern. “Raymond, dude, the bone saw.”

“Right, Mr. Bluejeans!”

Barry sighed. “Anyway, the thing I’ve always wondered is how you get through the  _commercials._ ”

Kravitz tugged on his gloves and shrugged. “Doesn’t bother me.”

“You  _own_  an iPod.”

Kravitz sighed. “Just think of the radio as a playlist curated for you with someone else’s music.”

Barry considered this. Raymond passed him the bone saw.

“No,” he said, turning it on. “I still don’t get it.”

Kravitz didn’t know how to explain the comfort of the radio. He wasn’t much older than Barry. Most of the people he’d gone to med school with were just as removed from the experience  _as_ Barry, and often just as bewildered.

And anyway, to explain it  _now_  would mean explaining his attachment to the voice that narrated his night, the one that chose the song he drove home to every morning as the sun came up. It would mean explaining that the words, “It’s ya boy, Taako,” had become some of the most important words in his life.

Kravitz didn’t know  _how_  to explain any of that.

 

* * *

 

There was nothing at all about Barry not to like. He was cheerful and responsible and would do almost anything Kravitz asked. The one thing he would  _not_  do was stop inviting Kravitz to go out with him and his girlfriend.

“Lup asks about you  _all_  the time.”

“That’s very nice.”

“Seriously, she does. She thinks you’ve gotta be, like, the most interesting person she’s never met.”

Kravitz scrawled his name at the bottom of another report. “I doubt that,” he said, and added it to the stack. Barry was perched on the corner of his desk, looking hopeful. “What is it you’re trying to get me to agree to, exactly?”

“My friend Magnus just got engaged and they’re throwing a huge party at their house tomorrow tonight.”

“I don’t  _know_  your friend Magnus.”

“Right, but if you come to the party, you’ll meet him, and then you’ll know him so it’ll be less weird.”

Kravitz raised a brow.

Barry sighed and pushed himself off the desk. “Look, I’m just saying I think you could use a night off. Ask the swing shift to cover for you. Everyone here owes you at least three favors, cash in!”

“Barry, I’m not taking a night off from work to go to a party.”

“Yeah,” Barry said and headed out of Kravitz’s office. “You’re totally right. That’s way too fun for you. That’s just not the kind of guy you are.” He shrugged. “I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to.”

Kravitz scowled. “I have  _fun_!” he called, after Barry’s retreating back. “I have fun all the time!”

Barry stuck his head back in. “Having fun doesn’t mean staying here  _later_  so you can stop at the farmer’s market on the way home, Krav.”

“I did that once.”

“Twice, actually. I cried both times.” Barry sighed. “If you don’t agree, I’m going to have to take drastic measures.”

“Your name is Barry Bluejeans. You’re the most non-threatening person I’ve ever met.” Kravitz looked back down at his work. “I’m looking forward to hearing about these  _drastic_  measures.”

 

* * *

 

The first words Kravitz ever heard Lup say were, “I thought you said he  _wanted_  to come.”

Barry checked the rear view mirror before backing out of Kravitz’s driveway. “He does!” he said, voice bright. “On the inside.”

Lup turned in the front seat to look at Kravitz. “I’m very sorry Barry forced you to take a night off.” She frowned. “That sounds really sarcastic, and it’s absolutely not how I meant it.” She poked Barry’s arm. “He doesn’t like this.”

“He’s learning to like it.”

“I’m  _learning_  what needs to go on your next performance review,” Kravitz muttered.

Lup clucked disapprovingly. “You hear that babe? You’re gonna get fired.”

Barry shrugged. “Eh. Worth it.” At a red light, he turned and looked at Kravitz in the backseat. “Admit it. You’re kinda excited to not go in tonight.”

Kravitz  _didn’t_  say,  _I’m missing the only part of my life that brings me any sort of peace whatsoever_. Instead, he said, “No, Barry. Absolutely not.”

Barry laughed as the light turned green. “You’ll thank me later.”

Kravitz highly doubted that, but he did enjoy listening to the banter between Barry and Lup. He knew Barry adored his girlfriend, but he hadn’t quite understood just how reciprocal the relationship was until right now. Lup smiled at Barry like she was seeing something new in him that she  _liked_ , every time she looked at him. Barry looked at Lup like she held the sun in her hands.

Kravitz wasn’t cynical enough not to appreciate that. He sat up a little straighter in the backseat and realized that to be welcomed here was a privilege.

When they pulled up to the little house, Barry said to Lup, “You wanna go on in?”

“We’ve got a ton of food.”

“Me and Krav can get it, no worries.” He grinned at her until she rolled her eyes and shut the door, heading into the house. Once she was inside, Barry turned to Kravitz, no longer grinning, and said, “Bud, I gotta talk to you.”

“Uh.”

“Come on. Let’s get the food.” Barry got out of the car and Kravitz followed.

“Barry—”

“So, uh, you know how you’re a huge nerd and you listen to the radio all the time and I’m never paying attention to that stuff?”

“ _You_  did not just call  _me_  a  _nerd_ ,” Kravitz said, pointing at Barry’s Star Wars shirt peeking out under a plaid button down.

Barry pushed his hand away. “Whatever, not the point. You know Taako, from the radio?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s Lup’s brother.”

Kravitz felt a knot the size of a  _grapefruit_  lodge itself in his throat.

Barry opened the trunk. There  _was_  a ton of food.

“I was kind of making fun of you with Lup—all in the spirit of friendship, don’t worry—and she pointed out that maybe I’ve been sort of stupid about the radio thing. She says if you listen to it all the time that it’s probably, like, a comfort thing. And she said that meeting the guy who sort of helps do that for you would be...emotionally jarring. A little. So I thought I should tell you.”

Kravitz swallowed and leaned into the trunk to pick up a few of the containers.

“It’s fine,” he said.

Barry raised a brow. “Really?”

“Yeah. Yes. Don’t worry about it.” He took a step back and shrugged. “It’s just a radio show, Barry.”

 

* * *

 

There was no opportunity to go into a bathroom and  _panic_  for two straight minutes because Magnus’s house only  _had_  one bathroom, and the door was shut tight. So Kravitz helped Barry bring in the food, took a beer when it was offered to him, and hunkered down to hide.

Barry sidled up next to him and said under his breath, “He’s in the kitchen.”

“I told you it’s not a big deal.”

“Right, but you look like you swallowed a horse pill.”

Kravitz tried to relax his expression.

Barry glanced at him. “Now you look like you took a muscle relaxant.” He snapped his fingers. “I bet Jules has something—”

“I don’t need drugs. I’m having a perfectly wonderful—” Kravitz cut himself off as a pair of very large arms suddenly appeared behind Barry and lifted him off the ground.

“ _Bluejeans!_ ”

Barry laughed and hung limply in the man’s grip. “Magnus!”

Magnus put him down and grinned. “You made it!”

“Well, you got engaged!”

“Oh, man, I totally did. Isn’t it awesome?” Magnus glanced over Barry’s shoulder. “Look at her. She’s awesome.”

Barry clapped Magnus on the shoulder. “Seriously. I’m really happy for you.” He turned. “This is my boss, Kravitz.”

Kravitz extended a hand, but instead found himself wrapped in an embrace.

Magnus sighed. “I’m so happy everyone’s here.” He pulled back. “This is totally awesome. Hey, we’ve got stuff stronger than beer if you need it. Kravitz, right?”

“Yes—”

“Awesome. So awesome. Okay, I gotta make an announcement soon. You guys mingle, have fun! And don’t go outside!” Magnus put an arm around them both and hugged them tight. “So happy,” he said, and headed into the living room.

Barry turned to Kravitz. “Why can’t we...nevermind. Anyway, see? Now you know Magnus.”

“And  _now_ my shoulder is dislocated.”

“He’s great, right? Come on.”

Kravitz frowned. “What? Why?”

“We’re gonna go into the kitchen so you can meet Taako and then it won’t be weird anymore.”

“Barry, I don’t think—”

Barry stepped in front of Kravitz and put his hands on Kravitz’s shoulders. “Look. I’m sorry I didn’t understand how...important the radio was to you. I didn’t get it before, but I get it now. I don’t know if it’s about Taako or if it’s about the overall concept or whatever. But I’m gonna say something right now, as a friend, that I really think you need to hear.” He stepped closer. “I think you need to  _meet_  Taako.”

“Barry, I—”

Barry raised a brow significantly. “No. Kravitz.  _I think you need to meet Taako._ ”

Kravitz blinked. “...Oh.”

“Yeah. So let’s just—” Barry took the beer from Kravitz’s hand and straightened his suit jacket. He took a step back. “Well. I think that’s as good as it’s gonna get.”

“Barry, I don’t know—”

“Look, if you don’t like him, we’ll find a new show for you to listen to. But you’re...you’re not just my boss, okay? You’re my friend and I think this would be good for you.”

Kravitz wasn’t so sure. He’d made the choice not to date. He just...wasn’t good at it. And besides -- most people he knew weren’t available for mid-afternoon lunch dates. His life choices didn’t lend themselves to building long term relationships.

Barry put a hand on Kravitz’s shoulder. “You trust me, don’t you?”

“Well...well yes—”

“Then let’s do this.” Barry turned, put an arm around Kravitz, and led him into the kitchen.

 

* * *

 

Taako was...nothing like Kravitz pictured. Certainly  _now_ he imagined him looking a bit like Lup, and that was true, but with the way he chose music, the songs he played that seemed to make no sense together until you  _listened_  — Kravitz had expected something else. He’d expected someone erratic, someone spontaneous and active.

Taako looked the way jazz  _sounded._  He was smooth, leaning against the kitchen counter with a sophisticated slouch, a gin and tonic in one hand, gesturing lazily with the other while he talked to Lup.

“Hey!” Barry walked them up to the twins and grinned. “You finally made it.”

Taako glanced at him. “You try skipping a Burnsides party.” He looked at Kravitz. “You’re new.”

“He is,” Barry said. “This is my boss, Kravitz.”

“Oh man,  _you’re_  Barry’s boss? Barry.” Taako looked at him again. “My dude. You can’t bring your boss here.” He looked back at Kravitz. “I’m  _very_  sorry.”

“It’s really okay.”

Barry sighed. “ _Anyway._  Kravitz is a huge radio fan. Maybe bigger than you.”

Taako snorted. “I doubt it. I’m  _Taako._   _From_ the radio?”

Lup said quickly, “ _Kravitz_  is a fan of your show.”

“... _Really._ ”

Kravitz felt like this was all getting out of hand. He cleared his throat and said loudly, “I like the station. I’ve been listening to it for seven years.”

“Oh!” said Taako. “Then you were listening to Clint.”

“Yes.”

“Yeah, big shoes to fill. Nice guy. Big ass nerd.” He gave Kravitz a smile and angled himself toward him. “But you  _kept_  listening to me.”

“I, uh. Yes. I did. I really like your show, your music choice is great.”

Taako nodded. “Music choice, huh?”

“Well, I mean it’s just...it’s delightfully eclectic, I’d say.” Kravitz felt his neck growing warmer. Taako’s interest was obvious, and he was failing to suppress his own. Taako was  _handsome_ , he was  _refined_ , he worked  _nights_  —

“ _Excuse me!_ ”

Taako groaned. “Seriously, Magnus?”

“ _Yes_ , Taako. Seriously.” He clapped his hands together. “Me and Julia are super psyched you guys are all here. We’ve been looking forward to this all week.”

Julia grinned. “It’s just so awesome to have all our friends in one place, and Magnus and I were thinking—”

“The next time you’ll all be together—”

“Is our wedding!” Julia said. “And we just got so excited to celebrate that with everyone—”

“That we decided to couldn’t wait,” Magnus finished. “So you’re not just at our engagement party. You’re at our  _wedding._ ” Everyone at the party went very quiet for moment before the entire sitting room erupted into cheers and clapping.

“We’ve been sitting on this for  _two weeks,_ ” Julia said. “And now you can all finally go outside.”

Magnus went to a set of double doors and threw them open. “Thirty minutes!” he said, and pulled Julia back into the thick of the party.

Taako whistled low. “Wow.”

Barry turned to him. “Did you know this was going to happen? You’re Magnus’s  _best friend._ ”

“I didn’t, actually. I can see why he didn’t tell me, though. I’d have told him this was tacky as  _hell_. Though to be fair, it...totally fits them.”

Barry sighed. “Alright. Well, I can take you home,” he said, looking at Kravitz.

“Hey, hey,  _hey._ ” Taako held up a hand. “What’s the rush, kemosabe?”

“I invited him here for a party. Not a wedding. This is totally different. He doesn’t  _know_  Magnus.”

Kravitz looked right at Taako, who was now looking him up and down, and smiled. “Sure I do.”

“Kravitz—”

“I’m okay, Barry.” He put a hand on his shoulder. “Really. Besides—” He shrugged. “I love weddings.”

Taako laughed. “Look at that. Great taste in radio  _and_  he’s a hapless romantic.” He took a sip of his drink. “Well  _done_ , Barold.”

Barry groaned.

 

* * *

 

The wedding was really very beautiful. Kravitz sat with Barry and Lup, while Taako stood with the wedding party, roped into being a groomsman at the last minute.

After the ceremony, Lup toyed with the flower pinned to his shirt. “You look adorable.”

“Stop it,” he said, swatting at her. He passed Kravitz a flute of champagne. “Good time?”

“Definitely.”

Lup sighed. “Barry, babe? Let’s go dance.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure.” He drained his glass and set it on a table. “You two have fun.”

“Will do,” Taako said, and raised his glass as they headed onto the dance floor that had been set up in the backyard. “So.” He looked at Kravitz. “You agreed to this set-up, huh?”

“I thought it couldn’t hurt to take a chance.” Kravitz didn’t really recognize this part of himself. He hadn’t been this  _confident_  in years. But Taako in person was as calming for him as the Taako he listened every night. Kravitz felt...relaxed. At ease, where he should have been even just a  _little_  nervous. He liked his quiet and his solitude — but he also liked the idea of sharing, just for a while, with someone like this.

“Look.” Taako set his champagne down on a table. “You’re...really attractive. You don’t seem like you’re gonna freak out and kill me in a basement.” He shrugged. “Why don’t we get out of here?”

 _Now_  Kravitz balked. Hopefully not visibly. He didn’t need Taako to think that he—

“You...don’t do this very often, do you?”

Kravitz sighed. “No. Not really.”

“It’s okay,” Taako said, and took a step closer. “I have enough confidence for the both of us.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

“So?” He reached out and pried the glass from Kravitz’s fingers. “What do you say?”

“...Sure. Yeah, sure. Alright.”

Taako grinned. “Great.” He stepped back. “I’ll be back. Meet me by the front door in ten minutes.”

 

* * *

 

In the dark of Kravitz’s living room, he let Taako kiss his neck and slide cool hands under his shirt, and he said, “You were...you were right.”

Taako leaned back. “Yeah?”

“I never really do this.”

Taako laughed. “That’s okay,” he said. “I still like you.”

“We  _just_ met.”

“Well, you know.” He pushed Kravitz back and rolled his hips. “I just have a feeling.”

 

* * *

 

The idea was to pretend everything was totally normal when he went to work the next evening.

Barry put a stop to that right away.

“So, how was it?”

“We’re not talking about this.” Kravitz put his bag on his desk. “We’re at work, now. You’re my employee, and I am not discussing my personal life with you.”

Barry sighed. “I’m the reason you  _had_  a personal life last night.”

“Barry, do you want to clean slabs all night? Because you can clean slabs.  _All night._ ”

“Fine, I’ll stop, but a simple,  _thank you for introducing us_ , or,  _thanks for inviting me_ , would go a long ways toward improving my mood.”

Kravitz sat down and started sifting through the files on his desk. “Thank you for introducing us. I had a wonderful time, and I appreciate the gesture.” He looked up. “Is that good enough?”

“Yes,” Barry said smugly. “For now.”

Kravitz sighed and shook his head.

 

* * *

 

He didn’t text Taako and Taako didn’t text him. The further Kravitz got away from that evening, the less it seemed to matter. He still heard Taako’s voice every night, and it was still as comforting as it had been. Now he just had to get into the habit of pretending he didn’t know what that voice sounded like in his ear, or the soft noises it made as Kravitz rolled their hips together and pressed his mouth against the curve of Taako’s neck.

It was easy to bury himself in work and only focus on the music, but even that was becoming a distraction. The iPod he owned for the days he managed the squeeze in a quick run had gone missing, so he was left alone with his thoughts and the monotonous beat of his shoes on concrete.

To call would mean to start something. Something that maybe he and Taako couldn’t quite control. The idea was frightening, but thrilling all the same.  _Time_ , he thought. He just...needed more time.

A week after the wedding, Kravitz was finishing up an autopsy, when he heard, quite clearly:  _people say she's crazy, she got diamonds on the soles of her shoes_.

“Is that on the radio?”

Barry looked up. “Uh, yeah? You hit your head or something? That’s all we listen to.” He bent back down.

“No, I know, I just…”

“Just what?”

“This is just. One of my favorite songs.”

Barry sighed. “Isn’t every song Taako plays one of your favorites?”

“ _No,_  actually. I just...this  _is_.” He sighed. “Forget it.”

Barry shrugged. “Whatever you say, boss-man.”

When they were finished, Kravitz went into his office to sign off on a few things, checking his phone as he sat down.

 **taako:** u listening tonight?

Kravitz laughed. He’d...been thinking about that, actually. About whether Taako thought about the people who  _listened_  the way Kravitz thought about the person he listened to.

 **kravitz:** i always am  
**taako:** cool just checking. hey ur not ignoring me are u?

Kravitz hesitated, but he tapped back,  _no just a busy guy_  quickly and dropped his phone into his desk drawer. He had to  _work._  He didn’t have time to process this and think about a guy who he’d spent  _one night_  with.

In the back of his mind, a little voice said,  _but it wasn’t one night. It’s been every night since you first heard his voice._   

“Can’t do this right now,” Kravitz said, and went back to his paperwork.

 

* * *

 

The next evening, though, it happened again.

“Barry, I need those path results.”

“On it.” Barry wheeled his chair across the lab as the radio came back from commercial.

Kravitz turned to ask him  _not_  to do that, but the radio suddenly crooned:  _and now the purple dusk of twilight time steals across the meadows of my heart, high up in the sky the little stars climb, always reminding me that we're apart._

“Boss.” Barry wheeled over to him and poked him in the chest with a folder. “ _Kravitz._ ”

“Didn’t he play Jimmy Durante earlier?”

“Uh, I don’t know? Don’t quiz me on your old music. Did you want this or not—”

Kravitz nodded and took the folder. “Yeah. Yeah, he did. He’s played a lot of my favorites tonight. All this week, actually.”

Barry wheeled himself to the other side of the lab and ducked his head.

“Barry.”

“Yeah?”

Kravitz crossed the room to him and leaned against his desk. “You know, my iPod went missing last week, and I forgot to tell you.”

“Well you found it, right?”

“Yes, I did. In the weirdest place, it was in my  _jacket_. Which is just odd because I never really use it. It’s for running, mostly.”

“Well, glad it worked out for you.” Barry sniffed and started looking through a file. Kravitz lifted it from the desk. “Hey—”

“Out with it, Bluejeans.”

Barry sighed. “Look, you can’t get mad, okay? I was just...doing a friend a solid, and in the process, hopefully you one, too. After you and Taako hooked up he came and asked if you...were serious about being single or not. Like he wanted to know if you really just didn’t want to be with someone, or if you would maybe give him a shot, but he felt...I dunno. He felt weird asking you out, I guess. He felt like you didn’t want to see him again.”

Kravitz sighed. “Right.”

“Anyway, I jacked your iPod and sent him some of your top plays and told him he should put them on the radio, maybe. Get your attention.”

Kravitz looked down. One of his laces had come untied.

“...Krav?”

“That was really nice of you, Barry. I...I do appreciate it.” He straightened and bent down to tie his shoe. “I should have been...more vocal, with Taako. I’ll...see what I can do.”

As he walked past the radio, it sang into his ear:  _dream a little dream of me._

 

* * *

 

 **kravitz:**  i know barry gave you some songs  
**taako:** not sure what u mean  
**kravitz:** i need you to know i had a really great time that night. you just have to understand this isn’t exactly par for the course for me.   
**taako:**  right i get it  
**kravitz:** i’ve been on my own for so long, i’m not entirely sure how to do something else  
**taako:** u gotta slow down handsome

Kravitz sighed and slid his phone into his pocket. He could deal with this later. Right now he just needed to get home, get some rest, and figure out what to do.

He liked Taako. He liked...everything he knew about Taako, which was to say very little, but  _still._  It meant something that his gut reaction was affection, didn’t it?

Barry poked his head into Kravitz’s office. “You goin’ home, boss?”

“Yeah, definitely.” Kravitz Barry outside, shielding his eyes from the rising sun and stifling a yawn. “I’ll see you tonight—”

_Love, I get so lost, sometimes._

Kravitz looked around.

_Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart._

Taako was standing on the other side of the parking lot, holding a boombox over his head.

“Oh my god,” Barry muttered. “You freakin’  _dorks._ ”

“Why don’t you run along, Barold?” Taako called over the music. “I’ve got a pretty heartfelt love confession to make.”

“Yeah, uh,  _see ya._ ” Barry waved, but Kravitz could see him grinning as he shook his head.

Taako waggled his eyebrows. “You gonna come over here or am I gonna have to bring the jams to you?”

Kravitz laughed and crossed the parking lot.

_When I want to run away I drive off in my car. But whichever way I go, I come back to the place you are._

“Excellent choice.”

Taako grinned and set the boombox on the hood of his car. “I know, right?”

Kravitz sighed. “Taako, I—”

“Look. I get it. You’re, like, a lone wolf, or whatever. I feel that.” He pointed to himself. “Taako is, too. But I... _like_  you. I don’t know how else to say it.”

“Taako, you don’t know me—”

“Yeah, but the things I do know? I really like. And I figure, it’s  _only_  gonna get better from there. Come on,” he added. “You try and tell me you don’t feel something.”

Kravitz looked down, but Taako reached under his chin and lifted his gaze. “No,” he said. “I can’t. I can’t say that because I... _really_  did. I’ve been feeling something about you since the first time I heard your voice.”

“You liked the songs, didn’t you?”

Kravitz laughed and stepped closer. “I did.”

“And you liked the boombox, too.”

“Yes, Taako. All the things you’ve done for me, I love.”

Taako grinned. “Then you do something for me.” They were terribly close, and Kravitz reached for Taako’s hands and gripped them in his own.

“Anything,” he said.

Taako pulled him close.

“Kiss me.”

Kravitz looked up. “I—”

“No hesitations.” Taako reached out and cupped his cheek. “Because I’ve got no hesitations about you.”

Kravitz breathed.

“Okay,” he said, and kissed him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> you can listen to kravitz's playlist of favorite songs on spotify [here](https://open.spotify.com/user/12137076740/playlist/5didpYdGWjjLAx5L8LNzq5?si=1XbOvzjSQ-iDLFBcnSbEZg). the songs referenced at the end of the story are, in order:  
> -diamonds on the souls of her shoes, by paul simon  
> -stardus, by nat king cole  
> -in your eyes, by peter gabriel (which is where the title comes from as well)
> 
> tumblr @ weatheredlaw


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